Although the recently announced $2.00 cwt. ($44/mt or $40/nt) price increase on US domestic hollow structural sections (HSS) is not slated to take hold until June 2, many are questioning how much viability the increase announcement has. At this point, US domestic scrap prices are holding at soft-sideways for the month of June, and the most recent hot rolled coil (HRC) prices have shown signs of a $1.00 cwt. ($22/mt or $20/nt) softening on the top part of their own spot range. So while HSS mills are maintaining that their costs are going up, those who take a closer look at the market may see otherwise. “At this point, it seems like the mills are going to try to push it through, but they’ll likely start pointing fingers and blaming one another when it doesn’t,” said one Midwest buyer. For now, the most commonly reported spot price range for US domestic HSS is still at approximately $47.50-$48.50 cwt. ($1,047-$1,069/mt or $950-$970/nt) ex-Midwest mill, unchanged since our last report two weeks ago.
Meanwhile, offshore offers from Turkey and Korea are still available, and trader sources say there have been a few buys taking place. Prices from both countries have held at approximately $37.50-$38.50 cwt. ($827-$849/mt or $750-$770/nt) DDP loaded truck US Gulf coast ports. Trader sources say they’re being cautious with futures orders for the time being, although this could change moving into the third quarter.